Preparing for the 2018 Census

Stats NZ is building up to the next census in 2018.

April 2017

We ran a census test in Whanganui in April 2017. The test helped us prepare for the 2018 Census, when we'll be encouraging everyone in New Zealand to complete their census forms online. We asked approximately 19,000 households to test our processes and systems.

July 2016

In July we tested new questions as well as some we have changed, to check that we have developed questions and forms that people can easily understand and complete for the 2018 Census. We tested our online and paper forms with two different groups.

Paper forms were tested by approximately 8,000 households across New Zealand.

Up to 22,000 households across the Auckland, Waikato, Wellington, and Christchurch regions took part in our Census Test in March 2016. The test was designed to look at our systems and processes, and test our new online forms, available for phone, tablet and desktop.